Another Good Thing About Hats Is…

Hats don’t get lost.

Shoes, underwear, African drums, and 10-foot long Ricola Swiss Alp horns, get lost, but people hang on to their hats.

I’m not lying: look at the stats – in a report issued by SITA Inc., an air transportation telecommunications and technology company, it was found that the airline industry lost an estimated 30 million bags worldwide last year. Two hundred thousand of those were never found. U.S. Airlines alone lost 10,000 bags a day in 2005.

And you know where it all ends up? You guessed it! The Unclaimed Baggage Center, in Scottsboro, Alabama, where complete strangers can buy your stuff–even ‘intimates’ and men’s wedding bands (for a pretty darn good price).

But no hats. Because people wear their hats and hold their hats and stuff their foldaways in their pockets, ready to shake out, slap on and look great.

Today’s conventionalized statement expressing a fundamental principle (courtesy of Hartford York): People love their hats ergo hats don’t get lost.

Thanks for reading,
Steve (Fulfilled) Singer
CEO Hartford York

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Men in Hats

Everyone knows about the ladies and their Red Hat Society, but not much is said about the men’s groups of (mad) hatters that have been popping up around the country.

There’s ROMEO, for instance, which stands for Retired Old Men Eating Out, just a bunch of old guys, getting together, doing nothing but shootin’ the breeze in hats. Then there was the poker-playing Black Hat Society in Atlantic City, formed so that they too could go out and do things, leaving their spouses behind, just like the girls in their red toppers do.

I’ve been tossing around a few ideas for a society of my own, like the Yatters (that’s for guys in hats with yachts), or maybe the Medoras would be a hit (that’s for men in fedoras admiring menorahs, of course). I could even call it the Besterns (for those who like their westerns best), but then we’d probably get stuck holding all our meetings in a certain hotel…

Thanks for reading,
Steve Singer
CEO Hartford York

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Save Your Hat

I don’t know if this is true, but a NY Times article once cited founder and director of the Headwear Information Bureau, Casey Bush, as saying:

According to one survey regarding romance on ocean cruises, 25% of passengers would jump overboard to save a hat. Only 13% would do the same to save a spouse.

It does kind of sound like something Ms. Bush would say. After all, the whole reason for her Headwear Information Bureau (HIB) is to represent the men’s and women’s headwear industries with national public relations campaigns and promotional activities to encourage hat wearing in the U.S., and she is frequently quoted in the press and makes TV appearances promoting members’ hats.

Wonder if she broke that survey down by gender: pusher and pushee?

Cuz, I really like my panama – the handwoven Borsalino. It’s special. It’s one fine hat.

I’m just saying.

Thanks for reading,
Steve Singer
CEO Hartford York

HIB

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Where to Wear Hats

Novice hat wearers tend to think they need a special event in order to wear a hat. This isn’t necessarily so, unless you consider a ball game or day at the beach a special event. Or gardening, or lazing in your backyard hammock, or window shopping on a sunny day…

There are times when an extra special hat is definitely in order, like at the races or at garden tea parties and springtime wedding receptions and graduation blow-outs, and those are great opportunities to experiment with new colors and styles.

Then you’ve got the long, the hot, the sultry nights of summer when anything goes – jazz, classical, blues, hip hop – under the stars or deep inside your favorite club. This time you make the event what you want it to be — with your hat.

Thanks for reading,
Steve Singer
CEO Hartford York

Flatter in Your Hat

Baby boomer men and women, career confident, in shape and sexy, are seeking out headwear styles that flatter their new mature yet always youthful look. Subtle, fun, smart: the look denotes the new age of aging.

Your hat should say of aging (like Sharon Stone of nudity): It’s no big deal.

Nudity in a hat, on the other hand, is a whole other ballgame.

Thanks for reading,
Steve Singer
CEO Hartford York

Real Men Wear Pink Hats

Daniel Billett, over at the AboutCom’s Men’s Fashion site loves pink, and gives lots of reasons why you should too:

~ psychologically pink is known to have a calming effect
~ pink is complimentary to most skin tones
~ because a man who wears pink exudes confidence, yet is sensitive
~ pink is easy to coordinate with almost every color in your wardrobe–it goes amazingly well with greys, tans, black, navys and other blues tones

Then he finally breaks down and give the true reason pink is a man’s best friend: women love pink and are more likely to give you a second glance.

Run, don’t walk–and have a great weekend!

Thanks for reading,
Steve Singer
CEO Hartford York

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Why Do You Wear a Hat?

Do you wear a hat for any reason other than fashion or lifestyle? Is it part of your job uniform or is it functional, like a sun hat? Susan Rubin Weintrob wears a hat because she’s an Orthodox Jew. She says:

I am recognized as such by some, but most people in my town think it a new fashion. When I wear a beret, I am often saluted in French. One person asked me, “Is this a feminist thing?” I shook my head. “No, it’s a religious thing.” She looked disappointed.

I wear hats solely for the reason that I like how they look and feel (and how I look and feel in them). Now that I’ve read Ms. Weintrob’s article, though, it gives a whole new outlook on the meaning of headwear.

If you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some deep thinking to do.

In my ivy cap.

Thanks for reading,
Steve Singer
CEO Hartford York

What Does Your Hat Say?

Diana Crane’s book, Fashion and Its Social Agendas: Class, Gender, and Identity in Clothing is a study of the social significance of clothing and how it has been transformed over the years.

An excerpt from the book is on hats, and talks about how (in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries) “women’s hats exemplified conspicuous consumption instead of relaying coded signals referring to social rank” as men’s hats did.

Admittedly, this scholarly tome (although eminently readable) calls for pondering on the part of the peruser (ie., me). And whenever I peruse, I wear a hat. That probably says something right there, but I have no idea what that might be.

Of course, I look great, reading in my hat–especially when I hold the book right-side-up.

Thanks for perusing,
Steve Singer
CEO Hartford York

Top Hat Truth

The long-held urban legend that John F. Kennedy triggered a precipitous decline in the sales of men’s hats by appearing hatless at his 1961 inauguration, is patently false.

Exhaustive investigation by yours truly (well, actually I read Snopes) indicates that in fact the President wore a top hat throughout the day in question.

Moving on in the spirit of journalistic excellence, I have uncovered yet another truth. To wit, that the western straw pictured here, called the Open Road by Stetson was a favorite of LBJ, who’d ride around in open top limos wearing his.

Now, I don’t have an open top limo but I’ve got a collection of hats worthy of any man, president or president maker.

Thanks for reading,
Steve Singer
CEO Hartford York

Wear a Hat: nothing else matters

In Margaret Berry’s third instalment of Women’s Fashion she wonders why hats ever fell out of favor. After all, if you choose your headgear well, no one will notice what else you’re wearing.

Premised with an Emily Post truism: It is impossible for a hatless woman to be chic, Ms. Berry starts her article off with an undisputable bang:

Flappers never had bad-hair days. They lopped off their tresses, tugged on a cloche, and headed out for an evening of Charleston and bootleg gin. What’s more, flappers wore comfy dresses shaped like potato sacks. They could wear whatever they liked; who the hell notices when you have that darling bell of a hat on? And so, you see, hats make life easier and loads more fun.

She goes on with a little hat-wearing advice, such as hat angles, hair styles best suited for hats, face shape and color, then winds up with a great zinger:

Hats draw attention, so it takes confidence to wear one well. If you can manage it, other women will assume that you are more fashionable than they. Those women will be correct.

Thanks for reading,
Steve Singer
CEO Hartford York